Endemic sponsorship has been one of the most-talked about discussion points since Major League Lacrosse began with the Summer Showcase in 2000. Warrior founder and CEO Dave Morrow helped found MLL, and since it started, the league's players have been allowed to play only with New Balance (Warrior and Brine included) products, and Cascade helmets (going back to the days before Warrior produced lacrosse helmets).

But that could be changing with MLL's announcement Thursday that it's opening up on-field equipment to more manufacturers beginning with the 2013 season. Manufacturers will now be able to sponsor individual categories of on-field equipment. Those categories are: bags, balance bracelets, body equipment (arm pads, chest protectors, rib pads, shoulder pads), compression shirts and shorts, gloves, knee bands, socks, stick handles and stick heads.

There will be exclusivity on helmets due to Cascade's contract that runs through the 2014 season, and Warrior will exclusively own footwear and uniforms. Otherwise, there will be no exclusivity per category. If five manufacturers buy in on gloves, for example, they will be able to supply their sponsored athletes with gloves, and then that group of five will split the supply for the rest of the league's players.

Major League Lacrosse Commissioner Dave Gross told Inside Lacrosse on Thursday that he expects every player to get signed by someone. As such, no default brands have been selected, but Gross said players will not have to provide their own equipment should they not be sponsored and should a manufacturer not buy into a category.

Gross said that in addition to potentially bringing in more revenue for MLL and its players, this also could increase promotion for the league through additional manufacturers activating those sponsorships in advertisements.

“This is something we've talked about for quite some time,” Gross said. “We worked with the guys that had exclusivity and felt that this was in the best interest of all parties involved, the league and the players. We can grow what we're trying to do faster if we have more people involved in growing the game.”

The biggest beneficiary should be the players, now that the value of those sponsorships is so enhanced by the visibility of wearing product on the field.

“Before, let's say Company X wants to do an endorsement deal; the player had limited value because no action pics of the product could be used when you're seeing the player in person,” Gross said. “Now that the player is able to wear their endorser's product, hopefully it will significantly increase the value that these players are getting.”

A few industry sources contacted by IL expressed skepticism about the true value of these sponsorships since manufacturers typically sponsor their players head to toe (or close to it if they don't have helmets). Gross said manufacturers have to buy in per category, and not per athlete. So if a manufacturer has to buy into four different categories to get all of its products onto a sponsored player, it might become cost-prohibitive to actually pay players on top of that. Or companies may be leery of only buying into select categories since their product would be appearing next to other brands.

Companies that do buy in will not be able to pick players that they don't sponsor. That will be divvied up by the league based on how many other companies occupy that category. There will be an added cost associated with using league action photos in advertising materials for companies that do buy in. Gross also said everything's open in terms of sponsorship levels as well, though Warrior/Brine will “still be heavily involved with the league.” Their sponsorship is still being finalized.

All products that players will wear on-field will have to first be approved by the league. Gross said “quality is the biggest thing” and that there will be “guidelines galore” for manufacturers to follow. So protective will not only have to match the league's uniforms, but also be safe for players to use.